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About the Collection

PRISM: Political & Rights Issues & Social Movements is a collaborative digital collection created by Florida Atlantic University Library and the University of Central Florida Libraries. The original manuscripts, pamphlets, and documents selected for digitization are housed in the Socialist series in the Pamphlet Collection at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Libraries, while the monographs and serials contributed from the Van Sickle Leftist Pamphlet Collection, are housed in Special Collection and Archives Department at the University of Central Florida (UCF) Libraries.

Socialist series in the Pamphlet Collection, FAU Libraries Special Collection and Archives Department:

The Socialist Series in the pamphlet collection at FAU Libraries includes over 1,000 late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century pamphlets published by a wide variety of socialist and communist groups and their critics, both here and abroad. The pamphlets were among the book stock purchased as the library’s opening day collection by FAU in the early 1960s from New York publisher and book dealer Burt Franklin. Publication dates run from the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century. Many of the pamphlets are either scarce or fragile, and cannot be handled. Topics discussed in the pamphlets include issues of workers’ rights, race and gender, religion, world economics, capitalism, the demise of colonialism, and the emergence of trade unionism. The collection includes publications of the nascent labor union movement, as well as those of its detractors. The pamphlet collections offer a focused perspective on the thinking prevalent in the days leading up to World Wars I and II, the impact of the war efforts on general populations, and economic and social recovery.

The Van Sickle Leftist Pamphlet Collection consists of over 2,500 communist and socialist writings which range in date from the late 1800’s to 1993. The UCF Libraries’ Special Collections department acquired the collection in 1980 from the Van Sickle Estate. Miss Van Sickle, was a staunch Canadian Socialist who collected the pamphlets from the 1920s through the 1970s. The original collection contained over 15,000 items, including over 7,000 books, which were catalogued and placed in general circulation, and about 2,500 pamphlets that were placed in Special Collections, available for in-house use only, and most of them were cataloged at the time.

However, the Van Sickle Leftist Pamphlet Collection is a collection of over 400 hundred uncataloged pamphlets. Most of these pamphlets were distributed for free or at a very low cost and were largely propaganda tracts. Many of the items in the collection are very rare, and it is believed that many titles are unique to the UCF collection. The poor quality of the paper used in the printing of the pamphlets, as well as the temporal nature of pamphlet materials, has contributed to their scarcity. Digitization provides a means to lend the item by distributing a copy without risk of loss or damage to the original. Therefore, it broadens the access to this very important material, and at the same time, it addresses preservation, to ensure longevity of this fragile material.

These pamphlets range in date from 1900 to 1993, but are mostly from the 1920s through the 1970s, and cover a variety of topics related not only to communism and socialism but also include world pacifism and the banning of the atomic bomb, anti-racism, anti-Semitism, world labor movements, class struggle, women's rights, Marxist economics, religion, civil rights, the Vietnam War, and the United Nations. The pamphlets also cover a wide geographic range of much of Europe, Cuba, Kenya, the Congo, India, Vietnam and Korea; however, they are concentrated on the United States, Soviet Union and Canada. Many of the authors of these pamphlets are the communist parties of these nations; however, pamphlets are also authored by such figures as Josef Stalin, Frederick Engels, Karl Marx, V.I. Lenin and Fidel Castro.

Technical Aspects

Selection of Materials

The PRISM: Political & Rights Issues & Social Movements collection is comprised of original manuscripts, pamphlets, and documents from the Socialist series in the Pamphlet Collection at Florida Atlantic University Libraries, and from the Van Sickle Leftist Pamphlet Collection, from Special Collection and Archives Department at the University of Central Florida Libraries. Project selectors considered the rarity, fragility, value to researchers, subject emphasis, request for use, and copyright status of all digitized contents.

Image Capture

Digitization of Florida Atlantic Universities Socialist Monographs Collection was performed using Epson Expression 10000 XL and the Special Collection and Archives Department at University of Central Florida Libraries’ Van Sickle material was performed using Kodak i200 series scanners.

All original scans were captured as TIFFs at a resolution of 400 pixels per inch. Full text searchable PDFs were created from the master TIFF images using Adobe Acrobat Professional 7.0 and 8.0.

All derivations conform to nationally established guidelines and are uploaded for display on the web. The color master TIFF images are deposited for long term digital preservation in the Florida Digital Archive maintained by FLVC.

Cataloging and Metadata:

The digital manifestations of the items Socialist Monographs Collection were originally provided with Dublin Core provisional records using Collaborative Digitization’s Best Practices for DC Metadata guidelines available at http://mwdl.org/docs/digital-imaging-bp_2.0.pdf. As MARC cataloging for the individual items becomes available from FAU Libraries’ Technical Services Department, the DC provisional records will be replaced with the original MARC cataloging.

Descriptive information for the digital versions of the University of Central Florida Libraries’ Van Sickle materials is based on the original bibliographic MARC record. The metadata corresponds to full-level MARC records according to UCF Libraries Cataloging Department procedures and the SUL’s Cataloging and Access Guidelines for Electronic Resources (CAGER). Please note, that the individual titles contributed to PRISM from the UCF Libraries, have been cataloged, and removed from the Van Sickle Pamphlet Collection. Accordingly they include their unique identifying number, i.e. the Library of Congress call number.

Copyright Information

Terms of Use

The PRISM: Political & Rights Issues & Social Movements Collection represents a sampling of many treasures available from participating libraries. Users should note the names of individual institutions, i.e. FAU and UCF, holding original copies, and contact them directly for information on reproductions, copyright, research assistance, reading room hours, and additional materials.

The PALMM PRISM: Political & Rights Issues & Social Movements is a collection of digital images made from source materials provided by the Special Collections departments at Florida Atlantic University Library and the Special Collections and University Archives Department at University of Central Florida Libraries. Prior to digitization, each item was researched to determine copyright and public domain status. All items published prior to 1923 were deemed to be in the public domain. Items published after 1922 were examined for publication notice, copyright registration, copyright renewal, and additional conditions as outlined in Peter Hirtle’s Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States
. To determine whether a copyright was renewed, both the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database
and Rutgers U.S. copyright renewal records
(link no longer exists) were consulted to determine the status of each item.

Fair Use

Unless additional restrictions are noted, copyrighted electronic materials in this collection may be used for research, instruction, and private study under the provisions of Fair Use. Fair Use is a provision of United States Copyright Law (United States Code, Title 17, section 107) which allows limited use of copyrighted materials under certain conditions. Factors to be considered whether a particular use falls under Fair Use include:

The purpose or character of the use;

The nature of the copyrighted work;

The amount and substantiality of the work being used;

The effect of the use on the market for and value of the original.

Under Fair Use you may view, print, photocopy, and download images from this site without prior permission, provided that you provide proper attribution of the source on all copies.

For any other use of these electronic materials, including but not limited to display, publication and commercial use, permission of the copyright holder must be obtained.

Attribution of Source

Citations, quotations, and use of images in this collection made under Fair Use or with permission of the copyright holder must acknowledge their source. Proper attribution includes the name of the resource, the name of the collection such as PRISM, the name of the copyright holder, and the URL of the PRISM homepage.

Permission For Source

User assumes all liability for copyright infringement and are advised to follow applicable copyright laws for permission and use of the electronic versions. Permission must be obtained for display, publication, commercial use, or any other use of the digital materials in this collection except as allowed under Fair Use.

Search this Collection

PRISM: Political & Rights Issues & Social Movements, a collaborative digitization project of the libraries and special collections departments of Florida Atlantic University (FAU), and the University of Central Florida (UCF), is composed of materials focusing on a wide range of political and rights issues and social movements including topics such as socialism and communism, class struggle, Marxist economics, religion, world pacifism, anti-racism, anti-Semitism, civil rights, women's rights, workers’ rights, world labor movements, world economics, capitalism, the demise of colonialism, Cuban politics, the "ban-the-bomb" movement, war efforts, the Vietnam War, and the United Nations. Spanning from the mid 19th century to the late 20th century, the pamphlets and monographs provide insight into the prevailing leftist and liberal views of the times from countries all around the world; from the United States to Korea and India to Canada.

We invite you to explore the various writings to gain an understanding of historical economic, political, and social forces that have had an influence on today’s societies.

This item is part of the Political & Rights Issues & Social Movements (PRISM) digital collection, a collaborative initiative between Florida Atlantic University and University of Central Florida in the Publication of Archival, Library & Museum Materials (PALMM).

This item is part of the Political & Rights Issues & Social Movements (PRISM) digital collection, a collaborative initiative between Florida Atlantic University and University of Central Florida in the Publication of Archival, Library & Museum Materials (PALMM).

Date Issued

1947, 1947-01-01T05:00:00.000Z

Format

Document (PDF)

Title

The 50th anniversary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, 1903-1953.

Name/Creator

Propaganda and Agitation Department of the C.C.C.P. S.U

Date Issued

1953, 1953-01-01T05:00:00.000Z

Format

Document (PDF)

Title

5th column in Mexico.

Name/Creator

Lombardo Toledano, Vicente

Date Issued

1942, 1942-01-01T05:00:00.000Z

Format

Document (PDF)

Title

A blueprint for fascism: what the industrial mobilization plan holds for America.

Name/Creator

Blumenfield, Frank B.

Date Issued

1937, 1937-01-01T05:00:00.000Z

Format

Document (PDF)

Title

A catechism of communism for Catholic high school students.

Name/Creator

Flynn, Fabian, Father

Date Issued

1936, 1936-01-01T05:00:00.000Z

Format

Document (PDF)

Title

A clean peace ; the war aims of British labour.

Name/Creator

MacCurdy, Charles A.

Date Issued

1918, 1918-01-01T05:00:00.000Z

Format

Document (PDF)

Title

A decade of destruction: Jewish culture in the USSR 1948 to 1958.

Name/Creator

Congress for Jewish Culture

Abstract/Description

This item is part of the Political & Rights Issues & Social Movements (PRISM) digital collection, a collaborative initiative between Florida Atlantic University and University of Central Florida in the Publication of Archival, Library & Museum Materials (PALMM).

Date Issued

1958, 1958-01-01T05:00:00.000Z

Format

Document (PDF)

Title

A discussion guide on the United Nations as an instrument of collective action against aggression, with specific reference to Korea.

Name/Creator

United States. Dept. of State. Unesco Relations Staff.; U.S. National Commission for UNESCO.

Date Issued

1951, 1951-01-01T05:00:00.000Z

Format

Document (PDF)

Title

A family of nations ... the Soviet Union.

Name/Creator

National Council of American-Soviet Friendship

Date Issued

1943, 1943-01-01T04:00:00.000Z

Format

Document (PDF)

Title

A free Europe.

Name/Creator

Grey of Fallodon, Edward Grey, Viscount, Bell, Edward Price

Date Issued

1916, 1916-01-01T05:00:00.000Z

Format

Document (PDF)

Title

A great collection.

Name/Creator

Bund Archives of the Jewish Labor Movement

Abstract/Description

This item is part of the Political & Rights Issues & Social Movements (PRISM) digital collection, a collaborative initiative between Florida Atlantic University and University of Central Florida in the Publication of Archival, Library & Museum Materials (PALMM).

Date Issued

1965, 1965-01-01T05:00:00.000Z

Format

Document (PDF)

Title

A great collection: The archives of the Jewish Labor Movement.

Name/Creator

Jewish Labor Movement

Abstract/Description

This item is part of the Political & Rights Issues & Social Movements (PRISM) digital collection, a collaborative initiative between Florida Atlantic University and University of Central Florida in the Publication of Archival, Library & Museum Materials (PALMM).

Date Issued

1965, 1965-01-01T05:00:00.000Z

Format

Document (PDF)

Title

A labor party for America.

Name/Creator

Seidman, Joel Issac

Abstract/Description

This item is part of the Political & Rights Issues & Social Movements (PRISM) digital collection, a collaborative initiative between Florida Atlantic University and University of Central Florida in the Publication of Archival, Library & Museum Materials (PALMM).

Date Issued

1936, 1936-01-01T05:00:00.000Z

Format

Document (PDF)

Title

A labor party for the United States.

Name/Creator

Social Economic Foundation

Abstract/Description

This item is part of the Political & Rights Issues & Social Movements (PRISM) digital collection, a collaborative initiative between Florida Atlantic University and University of Central Florida in the Publication of Archival, Library & Museum Materials (PALMM).